The LGA’s measured submission on local government finance in advance of the Spending Review sparked a spate of misleading stories claiming ‘Labour town halls’ were plotting to impose ‘Bridget Jones taxes’ Read more
It’s a year since elected majors were rejected by many of England’s big cities. So would local government have been in a more powerful position if the result had been different? Read more
Eric Pickles is correct – we don’t need council newspapers, with their gushing stories and no attempt to hold local politicians to account. Instead, town halls should support independent media outlets through a scrutiny tax Read more
Neither the brickbats nor bouquets being thrown at the memory of Margaret Thatcher accurately reflect her record Read more
The idea that people out of work should not get more in benefits than those in work seems intrinsically fair. But in practice the benefits cap has many flaws Read more
Ministers are at loggerheads over who should bear the brunt of £10bn extra spending cuts. This outbreak of ‘fiscal nimbyism’ signals deep Cabinet tensions over protected and non-protected departments Read more
The coalition government has made great play of the fact that we are ‘all in this together’. Pain will be shared so that the burden of deficit reduction is imposed fairly. Read more
It’s breathtakingly cheeky of the Communities Secretary to describe local authorities as ‘undemocratic’ where they raise tax levels by just under the 2% threshold. Councils are political bodies, elected by their citizens, and have a mandate to act Read more
There is an urgent need for more credible policies on migration that might slowly regain people’s confidence. By setting numerical targets, the government has begun a contest that is difficult for anyone to win Read more
The best proposals to improve the public sector will originate from front-line staff and not from senior managers or ministers. Staff need to be given the space and financial incentives to put forward good ideas Read more
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